Sure, everybody knows Paris. People swoon when you say Paris. But even the French Riviera – which in my experience is the thing that people know the most after Paris – is not nearly as touristed as the many cities in Italy that people feel they “must see” on their first trip to the country.

You say Normandy beaches, and people are like, “Oh, right.”

Or the castles of the Loire Valley – “I’ve heard of those.”

But I’m constantly shocked that people don’t know this exists, for example, let alone that it’s an easy overnight trip from Paris:

It’s Mont Saint-Michel, and JUST LOOK AT IT. Why is every person who visits Paris for even one week not hightailing it to this place? (Don’t get me wrong, it’s popular; but people who think nothing of steamrolling through RomeFlorenceVenice somehow think it’s a pain in the ass to go see that big pile of fabulous? Come on, people.)